Joe Broussard never thought it could happen to him.
The redshirt junior had the arm twinges and pains every pitcher dreads, followed by the occasional arm soreness after a long outing.
So when he faced a 1-0 count to Sean Dwyer in the Cape Cod Summer League and dialed up an inside fastball, the awkward feeling in his arm seemed commonplace.
“I stepped off the mound and I was like ‘Whoa,’” Broussard recalled. “The next day I told myself ‘It’s nothing, just take a week off.’”
Broussard, pitching for the Cotuit Kettleers on that July evening in 2012, was shut down for the summer and returned to Baton Rouge. It was in September that the Gretna native discovered he’d be taking more than just a few days off.
It was a ulnar collateral ligament tear.
Broussard had Tommy John surgery to reconstruct the ligament on Sept. 21, 2012 and missed his entire junior season.
So instead of contending for the third starter role or being a cog in a loaded 2013 bullpen, Broussard settled into a year-long rehabilitation process considered daunting and lonesome by those who have undertaken it.
Accompanying him throughout the process was former LSU trainer Jon Michelini, who didn’t give Broussard any time to lament his misfortune.
“Within a week after surgery, we started doing exercises,” Michelini said. “We’d meet daily, give him a day off when he needed one, [sessions would run] anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.”
Michelini, who left LSU at the beginning of January after accepting the same position at Florida, termed Broussard’s rehabilitation more concentrated than that of former LSU outfielder Raph Rhymes, who returned from Tommy John surgery in “seven or eight months.”
In total, Broussard’s rehab spanned a year and a half, when the Tigers amassed the greatest statistical regular season in LSU baseball history and completed regional and super regional sweeps before a trip to Omaha.
“Not being able to step on the field, it was tough,” Broussard said. “There were ups and downs where I was going through emotional things.”
“I wanted to be out there so bad, but I knew I had to do my rehab.”
Michelini credited Broussard’s work ethic and demeanor throughout the healing, claiming he couldn’t remember a time when Broussard’s emotions were on display.
But while Broussard hid them nicely, emotions were abound.
Michelini recalled last fall’s Purple-Gold World Series and the return from Christmas break — when the atmosphere at Alex Box Stadium shifts to regular season excitement — as tough times for Broussard.
“You can sense when they get a little down, but you just try to stay as positive as you can and put everything in perspective,” Michelini said. “We outlined the whole plan for him and we knew it’d be about a year. We tried to stay as positive as we could.”
Broussard trudged through the rehab and was ecstatic as fall practice came into view, even for the normally mundane scrimmages and practices.
His enthusiasm wasn’t lost on LSU coach Paul Mainieri or pitching coach Alan Dunn, who both raved about the Holy Cross product’s fervor through his injury.
“Joe was very dedicated, committed, very focused in what he wanted to do with his life,” Mainieri said. “I think he’s throwing the ball as hard as he did before he got hurt. His curveball’s just as good, but he hasn’t pitched in a year so he needs some consistency.”
Mainieri marveled at Broussard’s endurance, but cautioned that his consistency on the mound is still a work in progress.
“I think he’s right on schedule,” Dunn added. “When that bell rings, I think he’ll be ready to come out and do the things he’s done before.”
It’s those things he’s done before that Broussard said he missed the most. Whether he’s in a set-up man role, vying for the closer job or simply filling holes in a transitioning bullpen, Broussard said carving a defined role on the staff isn’t his primary goal.
“It wasn’t the easiest road,” Broussard said. “You have times when you think you can go out there and throw a ball because your whole life you’ve never had an injury like that.”
“It’s whatever the team needs. I’m ready to go.”